Renaissance Capital founder Stephen Jennings and partners borrowed more than $700 million from the
Russian investment bank to buy assets in Africa, Vedomosti
reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter.

Jennings is repaying the debt according to plan, the
Moscow-based newspaper reported, citing an unidentified person
close to billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov’s Onexim Group, which
bought half of Renaissance Capital in 2008, after the loans were
made.

Onexim knew of the loans before it agreed to acquire its
stake in the firm in September 2008 and made ending the practice
a condition of the deal, Vedomosti said. Renaissance Capital had
$695 million of debt to shareholders and affiliated parties as
of June 30, Vedomosti said, citing Renaissance Financial
Holdings Ltd. financial statements.

The Vedomosti article contained “multiple inaccuracies,”
Preston Mendenhall, a spokesman for Renaissance Capital in
Moscow, said in an e-mailed statement today.

“All loans, including those to related entities, have been
disclosed in financial reporting since inception,” Kieran Donnelly, Renaissance’s head of group funding, said in a phone
interview. “The rating agencies mention them in their reports
and there is full disclosure in our bond prospecti.”

Igor Petrov, a spokesman for Onexim in Moscow, couldn’t be
reached immediately when Bloomberg called seeking comment.